Nonwoven abrasive materials are well known in the art. Many of these articles are manufactured from polyamide fibres, and include a binder such as phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin. There are currently a large number of non woven abrasive products in the market place. Most of these articles are made from polyamide fibres (generally Nylon 6 or Nylon 66) and the binder usually employed is phenol-formaldehyde resin (PF). For less aggressive products, polyester fibres and acrylic binders are often used. Current nonwoven abrasives are used in sheets, pads or discs, or are converted into flap wheels or bias mops etc., all of which require sheet strength and integrity. All have sufficient integrity to exist in the form of a sheet having defined surfaces that retains its shape when used for surface-finishing and cleaning.
Products that do not have such integrity and that may be used for surface cleaning and preparation are typically made of cotton wool or steel wool. These materials differ from nonwoven abrasives in that they contain no mineral abrasive particles and in that the fibres are wholly or substantially natural in the case of cotton wool or metallic in the case of wire wool. In both cases, surface cleaning and preparation are effected by the fibres themselves. In the case of nonwoven abrasives, the surface cleaning and preparation is mostly or entirely a result of the abrasive action of the abrasive mineral grains and/or the binder system contained within the structure. The synthetic fibres are used largely as carriers for these abrasive grains and binders.